Arase canvasses establishment of police trust fund

• Says N4b required to fix destroyed stations
• Force perfects plan to recruit
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, yesterday canvassed establishment of a police trust fund to boost service delivery.
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Speaking during an interactive session with members of the House of Representatives Committee on Police Affairs at the National Assembly complex, Abuja, Arase explained that the fund would serve as a reservoir of money to complement government funding of the police force.

The IG, who blamed poor funding as one of the factors responsible for poor performance of the police force over the years, explained that the situation has been compounded by what he described as “envelope budgetary concept” which practically starved the police force of funds required for its day -to -day operational duties.

Explaining how the envelope budgetary system impacted negatively on the funding of the security organisation, Arase disclosed that in 2010, the police got N15 billion out of N45 billion; in 2013, it got N7 billion out of N56 billion allocated to it for overhead cost, leading to a situation whereby the force faced difficulties in even fueling its patrol vehicles during the period.

According to Arase, the police force has the wherewithal to live up to expectations of Nigerians if well funded. He presented visual clips to the lawmakers, detailing how police personnel contend with living in inhabitable environment in the barracks and training colleges due to paucity of funds.
Arase, who was accompanied by top ranking officers, noted that personnel of the police force would have established civil authorities in areas ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgents in the North East geo-political zone of the country but for lack of funds.

He disclosed that the Boko Haram insurgency group destroyed 56 police formations in the northern part of the country, adding that it would require N4 billion to fix them.
On the presidential directive for recruitment of 10,000 persons into the force, the IG stated that the force has finalised arrangement to recruit 7,500 constables, 500 cadet inspectors, 500 cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASPs) and 1,500 specialists from across various fields of endeavours.